Earlier, we discussed how the thickness of your pick can impact your playing. This time, let’s take a look at the shape of the pick.

Rounded Tip Picks: These picks don’t "bite" into the strings and as a result, work great for strumming. The pick can glide over the strings without getting stuck on any individual string. The drawback is that picking individual strings becomes more effort.

Pointy Tip Picks: These are preferred by players who like to play fast, intricate lines. The point can "stick" to the string and greatly increase your accuracy and speed when alternate picking, string skipping, or tremolo picking. Fast players prefer these greatly!

Large Pick vs. Small Pick: This is a point of debate, but my opinion is that the larger the pick, the more you need to control. While it is easier to hold on to a larger pick, getting it to move fast takes more effort. The small "Jazz" picks are more maneuverable and once you get used to them, I find it hard to use anything else.

Having problems holding onto your pick while playing? Try using picks with either raised writing or holes through it. If your favorite pick doesn’t have either, try drilling a couple holes yourself (or use a hole punch if you’re strong enough!). There are glue-like products you can put on the pick to make it stickier, but I think that would really be the last resort. Who wants to clean glue up every time they play guitar?

Of course, there is a right pick out there for every player, so try them all out and find yourself the perfect pick!

There are lots of different kinds of picks. Finding the right pick for you can make playing much easier!

Thin picks are great for strumming chords. They bend against the strings while you strum and have very little resistance. The downside to thin picks is that they bend and have very little resistance! This means they aren’t very good for doing fast single note runs. If your style is mostly playing chords, this could be a good fit.

Medium picks still have some give when you are strumming, but work much better for hitting individual strings. These are great when you are strumming chords as well as picking some individual notes out of them.

Heavy picks don’t have any give at all and that is exactly why they are perfect for fast picking. If you want to shred and play the fast lead parts, heavy is the way to go!

Besides how stiff a pick is, there are other factors you may consider. Larger picks are easier to hold on to. Smaller picks are more maneuverable. Sharp picks can dig into the string faster, and dull ones have a much more rounded tone. Try them all and find the one that’s right for you!